Spirits
by Fangirlingovermarvel
Summary: Murder after murder has happened at the sunny BeachPalm hotel in Los Angeles, California. When the Team is called in to check it out, they discover something completely horrifying. This sunny hotel just got a lot darker.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

6 teens sat in the kitchen of Mount Justice. Those teens were Dick Grayson (Robin), Wally West (Kid Flash), Kaldur'amh (Aqualad), Conner Kent (Superboy), M'gann Morzz (Miss Martian), and Zatanna Zatara (Zatanna).

M'gann was busying herself making cookies with Superboy helping her, Kaldur was reading a book silently, Robin was telling Zatanna all about how cool the batcave was, and Wally was impatiently pacing back and forth.

"Whoa, Wall-man. Sit down, your making me tired just watching you." Robin taunted from the table.

"I think he's getting tired of waiting for his honey." Zatanna added with a smirk.

"Shut you two, and- wait a minute." The speedster sped off and returned with, surprise-surprise, a jar of honey in his hand. "I could totally go with some honey on toast right now." He said while opening the jar.

"Is Raquel going to be here?" Kaldur asked, not looking up from his book.

"I think she's on vacation with her dad right now" Zatanna answered.

"Oh." Kaldur said, somewhat dejectedly.

Wally had just gotten his bread out of the cabinet when the computer announced the arrive of their seventh teammate.

**Recognized; Artemis: B07**

"Babe's here!" Wally said happily to himself as he dropped the bread and sped out of the room to see his girlfriend.

"Hey, Wally." They heard the archer say from the other room.

The couple soon walked back in the room, and Artemis was greeted by the rest of the team.

She sat down on the island in the middle of the kitchen, and Wally continued to make his toast.

It wasn't long before Robin asked, "Have any of you heard about all the mysterious murders happening at that hotel in Los Angeles?"

The murders have been on the news for weeks now, and no one could pin-point the killer. The League even tried to figure out the cause of the deaths, but it resulted in no luck.

The worse thing was, since Los Angeles was such a popular city, people kept checking in the hotel. And since the owner is filthy rich, he always buys people out of closing it down.

"I have, it's so horrible." M'gann said with a shiver, and Superboy then put a comforting arm around her.

"What if the light has something to do with it?" Artemis asked. She then looked down at the ground, "What if it's my dad?"

Wally jumped onto the island next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "I don't think so, your dad may be an assassin, but he's not a serial killer. Besides, this isn't the type of thing the light usually does."

"I hope your right." She said, leaning against his chest.

"I'm getting a vibe from the articles that, I don't why, the causes of the deaths are supernatural." Zatanna spoke up.

"Whoa, what?! Supernatural, as in, like, ghosts?" Robin asked, his voice full of shock.

"I thought ghosts weren't real." Superboy remarked, still holding M'gann.

"Oh they are, trust me." Artemis said, exchanging a glance with Zatanna.

"Tell them." Zatanna said.

"Remember how me and Zee fought this guy named Harm?" Artemis asked.

"Yeah, the one that almost KILLED you!" Wally yelled.

"Chill, Baywatch." Artemis said while putting her hand on his shoulder.

Wally relaxed, and Artemis continued. "Well, this little girl, Greta, was helping us. It turned out in the end, she was Harm's little sister, and he had killed her a year or so ago."

Everyone in the room froze, Kaldur even closed his book to look at the two girls.

"So that means," M'gann began, "The whole time she was helping you, she was…"

"A ghost." Artemis and Zatanna said in unison.

The rest of the team fell silent, until they heard a familiar voice over the announcement system.

"Team, report to the cave, now." Batman's dark voice commanded over the system.

The teenagers looked at each other and walked to the cave.

. . . . . . . . . . .

The seven teams entered the cave, where Batman stood along with Black Canary, Red Tornado, and Flash.

"Team, I'm guessing you've all heard about the murders in that Los Angeles hotel, correct?" the Dark Knight asked.

The teens all nodded.

"Good. Well, it's getting out of hand. We need you all to go undercover to this hotel and find out what's going on. Wayne Industries will be paying for your stay, and do not leave until you have gotten to the bottom of this mystery. Got it?" he explained.

The teens all nodded.

"Dismissed. I suggest you all go home and pack." Batman said as he walked away. "Be careful." The other adults warned as they followed him out of the room.

"Well, I guess we go pack. Meet back here?" Robin suggested.

They all agreed, then five teenagers went towards the zeta tubes while the other two walked towards their rooms in the Mountain.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The seven teens sat on the jet taking them to California. Wally had finally finished his 2 hour rendition of 'California Gurls' by Katy Perry and the team was now just trying to relax. Artemis had fallen asleep halfway there (or knocked herself out so she wouldn't have to listen to Wally's singing) and was face down on the ground, and Zatanna had fallen asleep next to Robin, using his chest as a pillow, which the Boy Wonder seemed to be enjoying. M'gann and Conner were talking and Kaldur was talking to Raquel on the phone.

They were flying on one of Bruce Wayne's private jets with one of his paid pilots flying it, so the team had to be in civvies as to not expose their identities. Artemis slowly began to stir, and then got up off the ground as she fully awakened. She was about to ask where they were, before the pilot answered her question before she could even open her mouth.

"Were about to land in California, everybody fasten your seatbelts," the pilot stated.

Artemis sat down next to Wally and did as the pilot said. She still couldn't help but wonder if her dad _was _behind the murders. It sounded like something he would do, or _could_ do at least. Her dad did have the capability to kill almost anyone, but he wouldn't kill random people like this. Well, at least she hoped he wouldn't.

Wally noticed Artemis in deep thought and reached for her hand. When he grasped it, she intertwined her fingers with his and gave him a smile.

He smiled back and said, "Everything will be fine."

"I hope your right," she responded.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The limo that had been waiting for them pulled up to the hotel. _Beachpalm_ was on a sign in front of the enormous building, and there were palm trees all over the place. There were some bushes around the front entrance with beautiful wildflowers, and you could hear the waves crashing on the beach. Not to mention the lovely sea breeze and the smell of the saltwater.

Zatanna was in a total trance, closing her eyes and just taking in everything around her. It was so peaceful and gorgeous here, how could any murders have happened at a place like this.

But then, she reminded herself, were there is light, there is also darkness.

This snapped her out of her trance as she walked over to Robin. He smiled as she approached.

"Cool here, isn't it?" He asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, it's hard to imagine something so horrible happening here," she said.

"I know, good thing were investigating. Then people can enjoy their vacation without worrying for their lives."

"Yeah. I'm sure that will improve their experience."

The two teens then started laughing and went to get their luggage. Robin grabbed his and Zatanna's.

"You want me to carry it for you?" he offered.

"Thanks, but I'm fine," the magician reassured.

Artemis then walked over and grabbed her suitcase and a duffle bag. She already had a backpack on her back. All of them decided to bring a lot of luggage because they didn't know how long they'd be there. They heard a lot of _clinks_ from Artemis' duffle.

"What?" the archer asked.

"What's in there?" Robin asked with a smirk.

"Three bows and about… I don't know… I lost track at one hundred arrows," she answered with a sheepish smile.

"Someone's prepared," Kaldur said with smile as he grabbed his luggage.

"We don't know how long we'll be here. I'm not taking chances," the blonde said as she started towards the front door.

Zatanna followed behind her, and stopped short when she felt as if someone had just paralyzed her. She dropped to her knees and collapsed onto the concrete.

"ZATANNA!" Robin yelled as the acrobat ran to her side.

The blue-eyed girl stayed still, knowing what just happened. That was her body's way of reacting to her magic sensing something dark.

Something deadly.

Something evil.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

A black mist stayed in the shadows, rearranging itself to look like a human silhouette.

"I will kill them," it said in a raspy voice.

Little did it know, the was another like this mist watching him from far away. This mist was white and also took on the silhouette of a human.

"No," it said in a soft voice, "You won't."


	3. Chapter 3

**I realized I haven't done a disclaimer yet, so I guess I should do one now;**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. If I did, then the show would have never been cancelled, Wally would have never died and there most likely wouldn't have been a time-skip. Also, sorry for not updating in forever. Hope you enjoy!**

Robin crouched down over the fallen form of Zatanna. He had absolutely no idea what had happened to her, she had been completely fine a few minutes ago! He began to panic and his mind started thinking of the worst case scenarios, which didn't really help at all. What if she was poisoned? What if she was now in a coma? What if she was now dead? His eyes widened in fear as he pondered all of these possibilities. He then got himself together and decided to try and wake her up.

"Zatanna? Zee? Zatanna, can you hear me?" he asked as he lightly shook her shoulder. He watched as her eyes slowly began to open and she propped herself up. He offered her his hand and helped her off the ground.

"What happened?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"Nothing really, I'm fine. That's just my body's way of reacting to when my magic senses…something," she said in a reassuring tone, until she grew nervous and looked away when she mentioned the 'something'.

"What do you mean by 'something'?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Let's just say, something bad," Zatanna replied as she grabbed her suitcase and continued walking towards the door. The detective followed after her, still wanting a little more specifics than just 'something bad'.

"And what do you mean by, 'something bad'?" he asked.

"I'm not 100% sure yet what it is, but it's something dark and evil. Probably a dark spirit or entity, because I never do this around evil villains, so this usually means that there is something here that is evil but not human," she explained.

Robin nodded his head in understanding.

"So like you said in the kitchen back at the cave, the cause of the deaths are supernatural?"

"Most likely, but we still need to make sure. I could be wrong."

The two teens met up with their friends at the entrance, all of them giving Zatanna worried looks.

"Are you okay, Zatanna?" M'gann asked.

"I'm fine," the magician responded with a smile as she entered the hotel.

"Okay, I'm glad you are," the Martian girl said with a smile.

Zatanna smiled again, happy she had such caring friends. Artemis soon walked up beside her as they all went to the check-in desk. A lady that looked to be in her forties sat behind the desk. She had brown hair pulled back in a bun and blue eyes that were behind a pair of glasses. She looked up at the teens and smiled.

"Welcome to the BeachPalm hotel," she greeted, "May I help you?"

"Yes," Artemis began, "we have a stay booked under 'Wayne'."

The lady looked at her computer and scrolled down a list of names, each with rooms and reservations. She then found 'Wayne' and looked back up at the teens, smiling again.

"Yes, Wayne. Staying for a week, possibly longer. You have two rooms reserved for you on the 7th floor, across the hall from each other," she then took out two cards and handed them to the group, "These are your room keys, there will be a little slot under the door knob where all you have to do is swipe and the door will unlock. Enjoy your stay!"

The team smiled and thanked her as they made their way to the elevator. It was, unfortunately, very small, so it was a VERY tight fit, but they all managed to squeeze in there together. Everyone was complaining about barely having any room, which was really amusing Robin.

"Wally, you are squishing me against the wall," Artemis complained.

"Sorry, Arty," KF responded with a smirk.

"I don't think I can move," Conner stated.

"I believe it would have been wiser for us to have made two trips," Kaldur said.

"No kidding," Robins said with a grin as he was barely able to move from his spot.

Finally the door opened and all the teens piled out, gasping for air. They caught the attention of a girl with wavy blonde hair and green eyes. She gave them a smile when they noticed her staring at them.

"I know," she said, "Those elevators are WAY too small. My dad let another family get on with mine, and it turned out they had four kids. I thought I was going to suffocate before I even got off."

The team laughed at her story, and she gave off another smile. M'gann walked forward and offered her hand.

"Hi! I'm Megan, Megan Morse," the Martian greeted. The girl shook her hand before introducing herself.

"I'm Rachel, Rachel Walters. Nice to meet you, Megan."

M'gann then turned around slightly so Rachel could see the rest of the team. She then began to introduce them as well.

"Nice to meet you, too! These are my friends, Conner, Wally, Artemis, Zatanna, Dick and Kaldur," she said, motioning to each of them. Rachel gave them a wave and smile. The team smiled back at her. Rachel then began to turn and walk towards the elevator. She turned back to them before saying goodbye.

"Well, I've got to go. Hopefully I'll see you guys later. Bye!" she said cheerfully as she got on the elevator. The team waved goodbye to her as the doors closed.

"Well, she was nice," M'gann said happily as she continued to walk down the hallway. The others followed her as they went to their rooms. The numbers on their room keys were 707 and 708, so they made the guess that those were their room numbers. Sure enough, they were.

"Yeah, she was," Wally agreed. His expression turned a little dark before he added, "Hopefully she won't get murdered."

Robin gave his best friend a reassuring smile before saying, "Don't worry, KF. No one else is going to get murdered with us here now."

While everyone was talking, Zatanna just stood there with a bit of an odd look on her face that Kaldur took notice to.

"Is everything alright, my friend?" he asked her.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," the magician said, snapping to attention, "I don't know why, but for some reason I was getting some weird vibes from that girl."

Artemis walked over to her friend, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm pretty sure a place with stuff this bad going on is going to give off a lot of weird vibes," the archer said.

The teens laughed as they reached their rooms. They decided on the way there that the girls will stay in one room and the boys will stay in the other, so the boys chose room 707 on the left side of the hall, and the girls chose room 708 on the right side of the hall.

The teens said their goodbyes to each other as they entered their rooms to get settled.


	4. Chapter 4

It was midnight when a blood-curdling scream sounded throughout the hotel. Artemis was the first one up. The scream startled her awake and then she was soon hurriedly getting into her costume and grabbing her bow and quiver (which she put arrows in before she went to bed in case something like this happened). With Artemis rushing around the room to get ready, Zatanna was soon woken up. When she saw Artemis grabbing her weapons, the magician immediately understood why.

"_egnahc ym samajap otni ym emutsoc_," she said. Her red t-shirt and blue shorts soon changed into her crime-fighting outfit. She then looked at Artemis and nodded as if to say; _I'm ready, let's go_. The girls then ran into the living room of their suite. M'gann was there waiting for them. She had woken up too when she mentally sensed the panic the other two girls were giving off. They then all went into the hallway, where the guys already were. Conner was using his super-hearing to figure out what room the scream came from.

"It came from two floors above us, which would be the 9th floor," he stated.

"We need to get their quickly," Kaldur said, "Kid, run ahead and try to fend off whatever attack is happening, there's a staircase down the hall. Zatanna, can you teleport the rest of us there?"

The magician nodded as Wally took off down the hall.

"_gnirb su ot eht htnin roolf_," she said. A circle of light appeared around the six teens as the area around them got brighter and brighter. Soon they were no longer in the hallway on their floor, but in a hallway on a different floor. They then saw a door kicked open and ran into the room it belonged to. There, they saw Wally standing between a middle-aged woman and some sort of black mist. All of their eyes widened as the black mist took on the shape of a human. It was completely terrifying. With one small movement of its arm, Wally was thrown against the wall. The black mist then began to approach the woman. Artemis began to shoot a few arrows, but they went right through it. The same happened with Robin's birdarangs. With another movement of its arm, the other six teens were thrown against the wall. M'gann stood back up and tried to use telekinesis to stop the mist from going any further, but it didn't work. Zatanna stood up next to her and stuck out her hands. Small auras of white magic formed around them, and the mist stopped dead in its tracks. The team soon realized that magic was the only thing that could affect this thing. But the mist soon stuck out its own hand, and Zatanna was soon pinned to the wall, as if something was holding her there.

"Your attempts are futile," the mist spoke, "You cannot stop me, for I am the supernatural. I am a ghost. You cannot stop a ghost. All of your powers and weapons are useless against me."

The mist turned its head toward Zatanna.

"Only your powers are useful against me," it said, "Yet I can still counter them. You see, heroes, you cannot win. You cannot stop me, but I can stop you."

It then continued to walk towards the woman, who was sobbing uncontrollably. It then reached her and picked her up by the throat. It began to squeeze her throat, suffocating her. However, it was soon stopped.

A white mist came through the wall behind the woman and pushed the black mist through another wall beside the woman. Then they were both gone. The woman fell to the ground, gasping for air. Kaldur came over and helped her up. He then escorted her to her room so she could pack her things and leave. The other teens looked at each other, not quite knowing what they just saw. Robin was the first to speak.

"You were right, Zee. The causes of the death were supernatural because the killer itself was supernatural! Good job," he said smiling.

"Thanks," she said, blushing.

"Okay, so we know the black mist is a ghost and the bad guy," Artemis began, "but what was that white mist?"

All of the teens looked at each other, unsure of the answer.

"Maybe Zatanna cast a spell without knowing," M'gann said.

"Maybe, I've done that before," Zatanna said, "But that white mist seemed intelligent, like the black mist. That would mean it's another spirit. But, at the same time, I wasn't getting a full supernatural vibe off of it, so M'gann's probably right."

The teens all nodded their agreement with the conclusion and were about to discuss what their next move would be when they were cut off.

"What happened? I heard a ton of noises up here so I came to check it out," a familiar person said. Rachel stood there in a pink camisole and purple shorts (her pajamas) with a worried expression on her face. Everyone looked at one another, trying to figure out what to say. Everyone except Zatanna, who just stood there wide-eyed, as if she had figured out something shocking.

"Everything's fine," Wally said, pushing Rachel out the door, "Just go back to your room and get some rest."

"If you say so," she said. She hesitated a bit, but then disappeared down the hall.

Everyone then turned to Zatanna, who hadn't moved since Rachel walked in. She looked as if she just saw someone get murdered, which, did almost happened a few minutes ago. But still, she looked super freaked-out.

"Zee, what's wrong?" Robin asked.

"It's her," the magician said, her eyes still wide.

"It's who?" Wally asked.

"It's Rachel," Zatanna began, "The black mist, the killer, is Rachel."

Everyone just stood there, shocked.

"But," M'gann began, "How?"

"I got that weird vibe from her again that I got earlier today," Zatanna said, "I found out what it was. The vibe from Rachel is similar to the vibe I got from the black mist, a supernatural vibe. That would mean she's a ghost."

All of the team's eyes widened.

"That's not all," Zatanna said, "Just think about it. Wouldn't any teenage girl start fangirling when she sees the protégés of some of the world's greatest superheroes? Most would, but Rachel didn't. She acted as if she already knew us, and the only other time she saw us was when we were in civvies, not in costume. Why would Rachel act like this? Because she's the enemy, so she does know us. She met us when we were fighting. Plus, isn't it odd Rachel showed up right after the mist disappeared?"

"Yeah," Artemis said, beginning to understand, "It is odd. Your right, I think she's the killer, too."

All of the other teens agreed, even M'gann, though she wasn't happy to.

"It's such a shame," the Martian said, "She was such a nice person."

Conner put an arm around M'gann. He hated Rachel even more now than he did a few minutes ago. First she's the killer, and then she gets M'gann upset because of her stupid little nice girl act. He wanted to pound her into the ground.

"So, should we go take her down now?" Wally asked.

"No," Kaldur said, who had returned a few minutes ago, "We need to wait to figure out how to defeat her. Plus, I think we should catch Rachel in the act first so we don't make any false accusations."

The team agreed. They then headed back to their rooms to get some sleep.

Well, try to, at least.

**Hey guys! Fangirlingovermarvel here. Thank you all so much for all your favs, follows, and reviews. I really love the support. I'm sorry for not updating in forever. I've been busy lately. Also, TheAsterousAuthor, to answer your (or Robin's) question, Chalant is a pairing in this story. Though the story is not mainly focusing on them, their a pairing. Hopefully now Zatanna won't go on a murderous rampage. Thank you all for your time! **


	5. Chapter 5

The team was sitting by the hotel's pool, enjoying the sun. They decided to lay low and just enjoy the hotel's accommodations until someone else was attacked. Besides, laying low and acting like normal vacationers was a great way to spy on Rachel. The Team wanted to get as much information on her as they possibly could. Plus, after last night's events, they needed a little time to relax.

M'gann and Conner were swimming together, giggling, while Zatanna was tanning on a deck chair while talking to Robin, who was sitting on deck chair next to hers. To maintain his cover, Kaldur decided to just sit under a table with an umbrella, texting Raquel. With him being an Atlantean, he didn't want to take chances by going in water. Wally was trying to get Artemis to come in the water with him, but his attempts were failing, miserably.

"Come on, Arty. It'll be fun," Wally said, already standing in the water.

"No. What part of 'I have hydrophobia' do you not understand?" Artemis replied, crossing her arms.

"The part where you refuse to get in a pool that doesn't even go deeper than six feet."

"I can't help it! I almost drowned during THREE missions IN A ROW."

"Fine," Wally said in fake defeat. An idea had popped into the Speedster's head. He'd probably get an arrow lodged in his throat for it, but hey, might as well try it.

Just as Artemis turned around, he grabbed her ankle and pulled her into the pool with him. She gave a slight scream, but not loud enough to attract any attention. Her body muscles tensed and she automatically gripped onto Wally. He looked at her face, and she looked really scared and vulnerable. Artemis Crock NEVER looked scared or vulnerable in front of anyone (except him a few times), so Wally decided this was probably not one of the best ideas he's ever had.

"Sorry," he apologized as he wrapped his arms around her waist, trying to comfort her. Artemis gave him a scared look before she slowly pulled away and began carefully wading through the water. She started to smile slightly and looked back at Wally.

"This isn't so bad," she said.

Wally smirked triumphantly before saying, "Told you."

"Whatever, Baywatch," Artemis replied, rolling her eyes yet still smiling. She smirked at him before starting to swim off, with him swimming off after her.

After the Team enjoyed the pool for two hours, they all decided to start discussing the mission more and get back to work. M'gann, Conner, Artemis and Wally all got out of the pool and joined Kaldur at the table.

"Okay, so when should we take down Rachel?" Robin asked.

"The sooner, the better," Conner said. He was still mad that she upset M'gann.

"I say the next time she tries to attack someone," Artemis suggested, "We can call her out and then take her down."

"I think that's a good idea," Zatanna said, "We don't want to put any more lives at risk, but at the same time we don't want to just randomly attack her when she's not in the act. So yeah, I agree with Artemis."

"Um, guys," Wally said, pointing at something behind them.

The team turned around to see the one person they were just talking about. Rachel. She gave them a cheery smile and came right up to them. With the positive way she acted and the kind look in her eyes, you would have never guessed she was evil. This girl…or ghost… was one good actress.

"Hi guys," she said in her usually happy tone of voice.

The team smiled at her and said their hellos, but you could easily tell they didn't want her to be there, much less want to be nice to her. Rachel noticed this, and gave them a sympathetic look.

"Are you guys okay? Is something wrong?" she asked.

The Team was about to give her a fake answer to hide the fact they knew her secret, but before anyone could, Conner stood up. He looked MEGA ticked-off and he also looked like he was trying really hard not to smash Rachel to a pulp.

"Yeah, something is wrong," the clone started, "You. The act's up, Rachel, so stay away from us or else I will personally smash you head-first into the concrete."

Rachel began to bite her lip and her eyes clouded over as a very hurt expression made its way onto her face. Wow, she was an INSANELY good actress.

"Okay, I don't know what I did to you all, but I get the message," she said, beginning to walk away. She walked towards the door that headed back into the hotel but stopped short. Her entire body was frozen for a minute before she began to move again. She ran quickly into the hotel, as if she had somewhere important to go and little time to get there. A few minutes later, a scream was heard.

The Team looked at each other before bolting to their rooms to change into costume and grab their weapons. After they were suited up, Conner identified that the scream came from the dining room, so the seven teens ran to the dining room and busted through its doors.

There, they saw the black mist cornering a male cook in the room. The cook looked completely terrified, but a glimmer of hope came to his eyes when he saw the heroes. The black mist once again took on the shape of a human and turned to the heroes.

"You children again? I thought you learned your lesson last time," it said. It raised its arms and tables began to float up from the ground. It then pushed its hands forward and the tables were being shot at the heroes. They all began to duck and dodge the furniture being thrown at them. M'gann tried to use her telekinesis to stop some of the tables from hitting her teammates, but too many were coming at them.

"Cut the act, Rachel. We know it's you!" Wally yelled as he ducked under an incoming table.

The black mist just laughed. "You really mistake me for that hero-wannnabe? I'm insulted."

All seven teens froze and looked at each other.

What did he just say?

"What do you mean by that?" M'gann asked.

"What he means," said a voice, "Is that the black mist isn't me."

The Team turned to see Rachel standing in the doorway. Except, it wasn't the usual cheery Rachel they were used to. She was wearing a white bodysuit with a silver belt and white boots that went up to her calves. She gave the black mist a hard glare before speaking again.

"Also, if I were you, I wouldn't be calling me a wannabe, 'cuz last time I checked, I've kicked your butt more than once."

"Oh really? Then prove it, little girl," the black mist taunted.

"I am NOT a little girl," Rachel began, "I'm fourteen."

Rachel slowly began to rise off the ground. Her figure became transparent, and her hair became an very lighter shade of blonde. Her green eyes then became pure white, and her skin got paler. The unthinkable had just happened.

Rachel, who the team now presumed was alive and human, had just turned into a ghost. How can a human turn into a ghost without dying? Who knows, maybe she was dead, but it was probably best to let Rachel explain. The Team had had enough of jumping to conclusions for a while.

Rachel stopped the tables from coming at the Team and flew at the black mist. When she got to it, she punched it in the stomach. The black mist staggered backwards and raised its hand. A knife then flew towards Rachel, but went right through her. It ended up embedded in the wall. The black mist got back up and pushed Rachel to the ground, stomping on her stomach. The ghost-girl gasped in pain but got back up. She then roundhouse kicked the black mist in the head and it fell onto the ground. However, when it got to the ground, it grabbed Rachel's ankle, bringing her down next to itself.

The teens watched as Rachel and the black mist continued to fight. The cook had already left the room, he had decided that with a battle between the two ghosts going on, it was a good time to escape.

"How can Rachel fight the mist but not us?" Wally asked.

"I don't know, maybe because she just turned into A GHOST!" Artemis said, slightly freaked out.

"Only a ghost can fight a ghost. Makes sense," Robin said with a shrug.

"Guys, look!" M'gann said, wide-eyed.

The Team looked to see Rachel turn into a white mist, the same white mist they saw the night before. She pushed the black mist through a wall and disappeared. The Team just stood there, staring at the wall Rachel and the black mist had just phased through. After a few minutes, Rachel came back through the wall and into the room. She changed from the white mist back to her normal, human self.

She saw the Team staring at her, waiting for her to say something.

"He got away," Rachel said, but the looks on their faces told her that wasn't what they wanted to know.

Rachel sighed before saying, "I guess I have some explaining to do."

**MAJOR PLOT TWIST! Did any of you see that coming? Well anyways, thank you for your favs, follows, and reviews. I love the support and always enjoy reading you guy's reviews. Especially TheAsterousAuthor's, hers are always enjoyable. Thank you for your time! **


	6. Chapter 6

Rachel looked down at the ground, suddenly finding the floor extremely interesting. She then bit her lip and looked back up at the team, who was still waiting for an explanation. Finally, the girl sighed once more and opened her mouth.

"Five years ago," She began, "I was out for a walk with my family in downtown Trenton, New Jersey, where we live. We were walking by a bank when its alarms went off and these robbers ran out, holding bags of money and guns. Obviously they were stealing from the bank, so the police quickly arrived to arrest them. Since it was going on in public, a crowd had gathered around watching what was going on, including me and my family. When the police pointed their guns at the robbers and told them to put their hands up, one of them told the cops to back off or else they'll fire into the crowd. Since the police department in my city stinks, the cops took the risk of believing that they were only bluffing and kept their guns pointed. Unfortunately, the robbers weren't."

Rachel stopped talking for a second and pulled the fabric of her costume away from her right shoulder, revealing a scar. The Team's eyes widened as Rachel began to speak again.

"One of the robbers fired a bullet into the crowd and, as you can see, that bullet hit me. My mom immediately called 911 and soon an ambulance came to rush me to the hospital. I had already lost a ton of blood, so during the ambulance ride, I died."

Everyone's eyes widened even more. Before someone could ask a question, Rachel held up a palm, silencing them.

"Wait until I'm done explaining," She said, "When we got to the hospital, the doctors brought me to the emergency room. Thanks to the advanced technology we have today, they were able to revive me. When I woke up, I was confused, and one of the doctors explained to me what happened. I'd been dead for 7 minutes."

"That still doesn't explain how you were able to turn into a ghost," Wally said, cutting in, "I've heard a ton of stories about stuff like that happening."

"I'm getting to that part," Rachel said, giving him a look, "Sometimes, when people who have died are revived and brought back to life, spirits will follow them back out of the spirit world. They're called 'hitchhiker ghosts'. That didn't happen to me. Instead, when I was crossing back over to the human plane, I gained…powers. I gained the ability to turn into a ghost, or at least mimic their abilities, as well as the sixth sense.

"And that," Rachel concluded, "Was how I'm able to do…that." She motioned to the back part of the room where she'd fought the black mist.

The Team just stood there for a minute, taking in all the information. Before anyone could speak, someone else did.

"Well," A voice said from the doorway, "That was interesting. This is going to be the last time I come in during the middle of a mission."

The Team turned to see who it was and there, standing in the doorway, was Raquel. **[A/N: Here you go, Cadyn Brewer-Sidelia Miller. As requested :)] **

"Raquel!" Kaldur said excitedly, running up to her. The two embraced each other in a hug and just stood there, smiling in each other's arms for a few minutes.

Robin cleared his throat and the two heroes broke apart, blushing.

"Raquel," M'gann said smiling, "I'm so happy you're here! Although, weren't you on vacation?"

"I just got back yesterday," The dark-haired girl responded, "I came to the Cave and none of you were there, so I asked Red Tornado where you guys were. Bats then came in and told me about the mission he assigned you guys and sent me to join you."

"Well in that case," Robin said, smiling, "It's good to have you here."

"Thanks," Raquel responded. She then turned to Rachel with a smile and held out her hand.

"Raquel Ervin," She said.

"Rachel Walters," Rachel responded, smiling and shaking Raquel's hand.

The two then stopped shaking each other's hands and Raquel smirked as she raised an eyebrow.

"So," She began, "Are you a new hero or something?"

After arriving just in time to hear her story, Raquel was very curious about this new girl. It's not every day you meet someone who gained superpowers by being shot and brought back to life.

Rachel thought for a minute before saying, "Um, I guess so. I'm not sure I've ever really considered myself a hero."

It was true. Once In a while Rachel would use her powers to fight some crime in Trenton, but she didn't really think she did it often enough to consider herself an actual superhero like Batman or Wonder Woman.

"Uh, if you haven't noticed, you were just fighting a bad guy while wearing a costume," Artemis remarked, "I'm pretty sure you're a hero."

"Oh," Rachel said, taking that in, "Well then yes, yes I am."

After hearing Artemis's statement, Robin was reminded that there was something Rachel's story still didn't explain.

"Speaking of fighting," He said, looking at Rachel, "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

Watching the ghost-girl throw down with the other ghost made the Boy Wonder curious as to how she knew all those moves. Being the detective he was, he decided to ask her about it.

"After I recovered from the shooting, I decided I never wanted to go through something like that again. I started taking some self-defense and martial arts classes, turns out I'm a quick learner," Rachel replied.

Robin nodded in understanding.

"Hold on, there's still one thing I have a question about," Wally said, A confused expression on his face, "Are you half-ghost half-human?"

The speedster wasn't really used to people having powers like Rachel's, so he needed a little clarification. The supernatural was not his thing.

"No, it's not that," Rachel said. She stopped for a minute to think about how she should put it in a way he'd better understand. "I'm still a full human," Rachel said, having finally found the right words, "Turning into a ghost is just my superpower."

Wally nodded, finally understanding what the deal was with Rachel's powers.

"So, any more questions?" Rachel asked with a tired smile, an obvious way of showing she didn't feel up to answering any more.

Zatanna looked around at her teammates before saying, "Nope, we're good."

Before anyone could start discussing plans on how to take down the black mist or fill in Raquel about what was happening, M'gann stepped forward, a slightly shameful expression on her face.

"Before we do anything else," She began, "I think we owe Rachel an apology."

Everyone else then remembered about how they had accused her of being the black mist earlier. You know, before she came and handed its butt to it.

"M'gann's right," Zatanna said, turning towards Rachel, "We're all really sorry we thought you were the black mist. I shouldn't have jumped to a conclusion when I felt those supernatural vibes coming off of you."

"Black mist?" Raquel questioned. Kaldur then turned to her and began to fill her in.

"It's fine," Rachel said with a smile, "I guess I maybe should have told you all sooner. I knew you guys were the people I met in the hallway and that you were actually heroes, so it probably would've cleared some things up."

Robin then caught on to something she said and was about to say something when Conner cut him off.

"I'm really sorry I threatened you back at the pool," The boy of steel spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. He wasn't really used to making apologies.

"Don't worry about it," Rachel told him with a reassuring smile, "I understand you were only looking out for your team."

Conner returned her smile as Robin just looked at Rachel with a furrowed brow.

"Wait, how did you know we were all actually heroes?" The Boy Wonder questioned.

Rachel smiled a nervous smile and began to speak, "Well, you see, sometimes I'll explore places in my ghost from. When I was exploring here a few days ago, I saw you all in your civvies outside talking about your mission. I knew then you all must secretly be heroes, and seeing you all in costume later confirmed it."

Before Robin could say anything else, an idea popped in his head.

"Rachel," He began, "When you were exploring in your ghost from, did you find out any information about the black mist by spying on him?"

"Actually," Rachel said, "I did. As soon as I walked into the hotel, I knew something evil was here. I eventually saw him and started to spy on him in ghost form. I found out that his name was George Hoffman and he was a serial killer who was put to death 10 years ago for his crimes. But the weird thing is, he never haunted this hotel until about a month ago. Someone took him out of the spirit world and brought him here. This person also enhanced his abilities, making him more powerful than the average ghost."

Everyone looked at each other before Kaldur asked, "Do you know the name of the person who released him from the spirit world?"

"I remember George saying it once," Rachel said," It was Claire…Claire-something?"

Every single person on the Team narrowed their eyes as they all said one familiar name in unison.

"Klarion."

**_A/N: Hey guys. I am SO SORRY for not updating in almost three months. My computer got a ton of viruses (by 'a ton', I literally mean hundreds) and it eventually crashed. It needed a new hard drive and it took weeks to get it. Then when the hard drive finally arrived, a family member was having major surgery and was in bed for weeks, so no one was really able to put the computer back together. Then on top off all of that, I've been kind of busy lately. But now it's fixed and I'm back to writing fanfic. Anyways, thank you for all of your favs, follows, and reviews. I really appreciate it. Especially_ Liv4YJ_'s, hers was very sweet. She's also writing a Young Justice fanfic, so be sure to check it out.__ Also, sorry if Rachel seemed Mary Sue-ish in this chapter, I was trying to use it to establish her character a little more. That's all for now, thank you for your time!_**


	7. Chapter 7

Artemis slowly made her way through the hallways of the hotel, her bow held out in front of her with an arrow already in it. After some more investigating, the team found out that the ghost of George Hoffman (aka the Black Mist) was going to be meeting with Klarion tonight.

The problem was, they didn't know where, so the Team (along with Rachel) were scouting the hotel.

Artemis turned the corner and almost ran right into someone. Acting on instinct, she immediately jumped back and pulled back her bow string, in case they tried to attack. Luckily, it was only Kaldur.

The blonde breathed a sigh of relief before facing her team leader. "Hey, Kaldur. Have you found anything?"

"No," The Atlantean replied, "I have not. The rest of the Team has not either, from what I understand."

Artemis groaned in frustration. How were they supposed to spy on Klarion and the Black Mist if they didn't even know where they were?

The archer looked to her side and saw a nearby air vent get kicked open. Robin then stepped out, tapping away furiously on his wrist computer.

"Found anything?" She asked the acrobat hopefully.

Robin shook his head. "I hacked into all the hotel's cameras and set them to infrared, so any humans or ghosts would show up on it and we'd be able to tell which is which due to body heat. So far the only figure I've caught on camera with abnormal body heat is Rachel in ghost from. The Black Mist doesn't seem to be showing up."

Artemis just frowned. This was getting nowhere.

The trio of young heroes then began to walk down the hallway, keeping their eyes open for anything. Robin looked back to his wrist computer a few minutes later.

The Boy Wonder's eyes widened in shock. A new figure had shown up on the infrared with an abnormal body heat, and it wasn't Rachel.

"Guys," He began, "A figure has shown up in room-"

_'Team'_, M'gann's voice said through the mind-link she'd just set up, _'I've spotted the Black Mist in room 213.'_

Robin took off towards the room, not even caring he had been cut off. Artemis and Kaldur followed close behind.

Instead of busting through the door, the Team all gathered in the air vents, watching the Black Mist. Surprisingly, the hotel's air vents were quite roomy. Though just to make sure no one was squished, M'gann and Rachel stayed intangible to create more space. Even though they could have gone invisible and stood in the room with the Black Mist, the two girls didn't want to risk the evil spirit or Klarion sensing them, so they stayed in the air vents with the rest of the Team.

_'When's Klarion going to show up?'_ Raquel asked through the mind link, obviously getting slightly impatient.

_'Soon'_, Kaldur reassured her, giving her a sweet smile.

Raquel blushed.

While everyone else sat there totally used to the mind-link, Rachel sat there fascinated.

_'So, do I just think what I want to say in my head instead of saying it out loud?'_ She asked.

_'Yep,'_ M'gann answered, _'You just did.'_

Rachel's eyes widened when she realized she had. _'Cool.'_

The Team then just sat there in silence for about ten more minutes, watching the Black Mist intently. Wally of course began to get impatient, but he didn't fidget at all since Artemis kept on giving him an _if-you-move-a-muscle-I-will-lodge-an-arrow-in-your-throat_ look.

After what felt like forever, something finally happened.

A bright light filled the room as a portal appeared out of nowhere. Everyone shielded their eyes from the brightness. They then looked back through the vent to see Klarion himself standing in the room.

_'I'm guessing that's Klarion the Witch Boy?'_ Rachel asked. The Team gave her silent nods as they watched the two villains greet each other.

"Klarion," the Black Mist said, "What a pleasure it is to see you again."

"The pleasure is all mine, Georgie," Klarion responded with a cackle.

The two then made small talk for a few minutes before Klarion said something that made all the hero's faces pale.

"So, did the justice brats fall for our little trap?" The Chaos Lord asked.

The Team all exchanged glances.

Trap?

"Like a charm," The Black Mist replied, "As soon as the League heard about the unexplained murders, they sent the kiddies in. Luckily they don't know me and the murders were bait."

All the young heroes looked at each other, shock in each of their systems.

The murders by the Black Mist were just a scheme to lure them to the hotel.

_'If the murders were just bait,'_ Zatanna thought, _'Then why are we really here?'_

Robin squinted in concentration, never taking his eyes off the villains they were watching. _'Looks like we're about to find out.'_

Klarion's face then took on a more serious expression. "I know all the justice babies are here, but what's this you said about 'another hero popping up'?"

The Black Mist grunted in annoyance. "Some girl is vacationing here, turns out she's super powered. She keeps assisting the kids and getting in my way."

Klarion groaned. "I wasn't accounting for another brat to pop up. I only have enough colleagues coming for the ones we already knew about."

The Team all exchanged another glance.

Colleagues?

"Instead of me leaving the hotel like in the original plan," The Black Mist started, "I could stick around to take care of this new hero so your plans don't get screwed up."

Rachel just gave the Black Mist a glare, trying not to seem intimidated.

Below them, Klarion put a hand to his chin in thought. "That could work," He said after a while, "Very well then, stay here and lie low until we contact you."

The Black Mist nodded. "When exactly are your colleagues supposed to get here?"

"Soon," Klarion said. He then looked towards the air vents, an evil grin on his face. "Are you okay with that plan, justice brats?"

All of the Team's eyes widened as Klarion fired a magic blast at the air vent, causing it to explode. Time slowed as the young heroes fell out of it and landed on the hard ground.

Conner looked up as Klarion approached them. "Oh no."

The Chaos Lord just gave him a sickening smirk.

"Oh yes."

**A/N: Well, at least it didn't take me as long to update as last time. I'm sorry guys, I get really busy really easily. Anyways, thank you all for your reviews, favs and follows, I really appreciate it. Thank you for your time!**


	8. Chapter 8

Wally slowly opened his eyes, the fog clouding his mind still making him feel weak and hazy. He rolled over onto his side, surveying the room around him. He was in some sort of basement. The ground was cold and wet, causing shivers to involuntarily run up his spine. The only light source in the room was a simple lightbulb on a wire that occasionally flickered. Wally quickly shook his head, trying to remember how he got here. It was then that all of the events from the past few days came rushing back to him.

_The mission, hotel murders, the black mist, ghosts, Klarion…_

The speedster then shot straight up, eyes wide. Where was the rest of the team?

Wally looked around, panic flooding his system. Did they all get separated? What if they were dead? The redhead froze. What if he was dead, himself?

He breathed out a sigh of relief when he spotted Dick not too far away from him, sprawled out on the ground. Zatanna was right next to the acrobat, curled up into his side. A few feet away from the two of them was Kaldur, who was sleeping on his stomach. M'gann was about a yard away from him, with Conner right next to her. Wally looked behind him to see Artemis curled up in the fetal position with Rachel on the ground to her right. The boy furrowed his brow. Someone was still missing…

"Hey," a voice sounded off from behind him, "How are you feeling?"

Wally turned to see Raquel standing behind him, offering a helpful hand. He took it and she helped lift him off the ground.

"I'm fine," He answered with a reassuring smile. "Are the others okay?"

Raquel turned to look at the rest of her teammates. "I checked them and didn't see any injuries. Some sort of sleeping spell from Klarion must have been what did us all over."

Wally nodded in understanding as he heard a few groans around him. He and the girl next to him turned to see Dick and Zatanna getting up off the ground. Dick looked to still be half-asleep and Zatanna was stumbling slightly. The two eventually straightened themselves out and walked over to the other two wake teammates. Not long after they woke up did Kaldur, M'gann and Conner stir from their slumber. Artemis and Rachel followed soon after. The fully awoken team now stood in a circle, exchanging questions of each other's well-being. After it was determined that no one was hurt, the nine heroes got down to business.

"We have discovered that all these murders were just a ploy to get us to the hotel," Kaldur said. "The Black Mist was a ghost selected by Klarion to have his powers enhanced and to carry out the murders."

Everyone nodded, signaling they were all on the same page.

"The question we're all wondering," Robin continued, "Is why?"

The team all exchanged a look. That was what they were all wondering. Why did they need to be lured to the hotel? What was the purpose of this trap? If they didn't figure it soon then they wouldn't be able to prepare themselves. They'd just be sitting ducks to whatever Klarion was plotting, and when it came to plotting his evil schemes, Klarion never put in only half-effort.

"I just remembered something," M'gann began, "Klarion mentioned something about having 'colleagues'."

Everybody stilled. That was also true. Klarion wasn't working alone. They were in even more danger now that they remembered it wasn't just Klarion and the Black Mist they had to worry about.

"Who would Klarion be working with?" Zatanna asked as she crossed her arms.

The team thought hard for a minute before the answer hit them like a ton of bricks. A collection of faces paled as the team all exchanged worried glances. Everyone except Rachel, who stood there confused at everyone else's actions. After a minute of silence, Artemis finally breathed out the answer that was on everyone's minds.

"The Light."

"Who, or what, is 'The Light'?" Rachel asked, questioning the enigma that was confusing her even more.

The team all exchanged a look before Dick turned to her. "Long story short, it's a group of supervillains who believe the key to human evolution is the fall of heroes."

Rachel's eyes widened as she simply nodded, understanding why everyone else was acting so panicky.

The team continued to discuss possible plans. Each plan usually ending in either taking on the Light themselves or calling the League. Some thought they needed to call the League in while others thought it was too late. After a few minutes of debating an equilibrium was reached. The team would contact the League, inform them that the entire mission was a trap and ask for their assistance. The League would come to help them. Before then, the team would prepare to take the Light on themselves in case the League didn't reach them in time.

"What are we going to contact the League with?" Conner asked as everyone searched their pockets.

"All of our comms are gone," Zatanna said, "And any other possible communication devices have been taken away from us."

Upon hearing the last part of Zatanna's sentence, Dick looked around at his team. His eyes widened slightly at his discovery. "Those aren't the only things that are gone."

Everyone looked around at each other after hearing Robin's statement. He was right. Wally's goggles were gone and his cupboards were empty. Artemis's bow, quiver and back-up crossbow were nowhere to be seen. Dick's utility belt and gloves had been stripped from him. Kaldur was without his waterbearers. Raquel was lacking her inertia belt.

"Well," Wally began slowly, sarcasm dripping into his system, "This is just great."

Artemis rolled her eyes in frustration. "You think?"

The team quickly began to consider alternatives. They needed to get out of the situation they were in. M'gann quickly piped up, a big smile on her face. "We could use one of the hotel phones to call the League. We're obviously in the basement so we could just go back upstairs and find one."

"Yeah," Zatanna said in agreement. "All we have to do is find the elevator."

Kaldur nodded, sifting through the words of the martian and magician in his mind . "That could work."

"Yeah," Robin said. "I could rewire it to hide the transmission and call the League."

"We could also find our missing weapons while we're at it," Raquel added.

The team all nodded in agreement as they turned around, prepared to start enacting their plan. Every single person's blood ran cold as they saw the pale figure in front of them, a black mist circulating behind him like smoke in the air.

"Oh, kiddies," Klarion said, a wicked smile on his face. "Who said you were still at the hotel?"

* * *

**A/N: Hello, everyone! Yes, I am alive! I am beyond sorry for not updating this in over a freaking year. I changed schools at the end of summer and had to adjust to a completely new environment. I also started doing theatre which, at my school, is treated like a varsity sport. My fanfics on this website slowly slipped to the back of my mind with all the things I had going on. But I have returned, and to be the better, more active author you lovely people deserve, I've created an update schedule for my stories! It's on my Bio and helps me be more organized and consistent with updating! Anyways, I am once again sorry for taking forever to get a new chapter out! I love you guys!**

**~ Fangirlingovermarvel**

**(P.S. Did you guys hear that Netflix is thinking of renewing _Young Justice _for a season 3 on their platform? They're looking at the statistics of it, so go watch YJ on Netflix to help get the show back! This is so exciting!)**


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